I recently purchased a new soldering station (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3132686). I was trying to fix the DC power jack on my wife's laptop. I was able to remove the old jack without difficulty but when I installed the new jack I could only get cold solder joints.
I think that part of my problem is that this tip is brand new and solder just will not stick to it! I have only used "old" soldering irons in the past and they always had a nice healthy coating of solder which helps a ton when heating joints! Is there any process to "tin" a new tip?
Another problem might be the size of the tip it's self. I used the highest setting of 850 degrees F to do the work as suggested in the guide (http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/12/06/dc-power-jack-repair-guide/). Could that little tiny pencil tip just may not be capable of transferring enough heat to the joint? After all, as shown in the picture, the new power jack has is like a large metal heat sink. How do you know what size of tip to use? Do you switch tips often or is there a good "one size fits most" tip that you use?
In order to tin the tip, you first need to clean it off. Use a wire wheel or sandpaper to remove all the gunk from it, then heat the iron up to full operating temperature (leave it for a few minutes at least). Clean it off with wet sponge then QUICKLY slather the entire tip with solder. Use a lot of solder and don't miss a spot. I'm assuming you are using rosin core solder here. Now use the wet sponge to clean up all the flux and you should be left with a shiny tip.
When you solder, you must be sure to heat both the circuit board pad and the part being soldered. A tiny bit of solder applied to the tip first helps in heat transfer.
Haha that's how I soldered in grade school. I quickly realized the connections just broke apart... DAMN! Wish I had one of those stations! What's the wattage of that guy? I couldn't find it on the site. Sometimes lower wattage soldering irons don't work as well for larger components. I used my roommate's massive soldering iron for large parts. Flux could also be a problem. Back a couple years ago I used Radioshack solder that didn't have a resin core/flux. Are you tinning the terminals of the adapter joint and circuit board before sticking the adapter into the holes?
I am new to soldering and got myself a Weller 40W with a fine tip. I followed arron"s video on how to prepare the tip, but the tip does not stay shiny. I am having trouble heating the pad on the pcb and the item to connect and getting any solder to melt into the joint. Any suggestions?
Are you using the proper rosin core solder? Acid core solder will quickly burn. If your solder doesn't have any sort of flux, then that's going to be an issue as well.
The PCB needs to be clean and shiny. After the tip is tinned and after every few joints, it needs to be wiped with damp sponge.
Preparing a new soldering iron for use
Posted - Jan 16 2009 : 12:08:15 PM
